This photo has been floating around Facebook the last few days and, not surprisingly, folks are all freaked out about it. Of course, most never bothered to read the whys, the hows, and the exclusions surrounding it.

First off, am I thrilled about this law? Not at all, but what the heck is the state of California supposed to do?

The Problem: California has a big problem with less-than-honorable parts resellers buying, stealing, obtaining vehicles, stripping them for some or all parts, and dumping the rest. An average of 1.2 million vehicles are abandoned every year (that is more than 3000 per day, though of course they aren’t all the result of illegal parts resellers).

That means the state has to deal with identifying, moving, and disposing tons of vehicles daily, along with any related hazardous waste. Let’s say it costs $100 to tow/handle/dispose of each vehicle (a low estimate in my opinion). That’s $120M each year. Thus, it’s not a trivial operations or budget issue.

How does this affect hobbyists?: There are exclusions for said hobbyists. For example, “Any person engaged in the restoration of vehicles of the type described in Vehicle Code Section 5004 or in the restoration of other vehicles having historic or classic significance” is excluded.

“The owner of any premises or property used in conjunction with any agricultural, farming, mining, ranching, or motor vehicle repair business” is excluded.

“The owner of any premises on which two or more unregistered and inoperable vehicles are held or stored, if the vehicles are used, or intended to be used, for restoration or as replacement parts or otherwise in conjunction with any business of a licensed dealer, manufacturer, or transporter, or in conjunction with the operation and maintenance of any fleet of motor vehicles used for the transportation of persons or property” is excluded.

If you’ve got a better idea? Then contact your state and suggest it; because, your state will likely be doing something similar, as this issue is a national problem. Look at these stats from the early 00s:

“Among U.S. cities, Seattle police received about 4,200 reports each month in 2002, the New York City Sanitation Department picked up over 9,200 vehicles in 2006, while Philadelphia police towed over 32,000 abandoned cars in a 40-day period in 2000. One year after Michigan implemented a statewide data system for tracking towed vehicles, over 92,000 abandoned vehicles were removed.”

• Or these reports I found with a quick search:
  In 2012, the city of Portland, Oregon, took 7,000 reports of abandoned vehicles. In 2016, it took 27,000.
• Anchorage, Alaska, has a problem with abandoned vehicles.
• Hawaii has a problem with it, too.

Given also that pretty much every town has some section of the law that discusses abandoned and junk vehicles, it’s seems obvious there are car abandonment issues everywhere.

So, in my opinion, this California law is specifically focused on shifting the cost of vehicle disposal away from the public and back onto parts resellers who are trying to skirt disposal costs. However, the marketing of this law clearly has to be rethought, as it sounds draconian to hobbyists everywhere (based on the Facebook responses).